Siege of Inazawa (1176)

The Siege of Inazawa (1176) was a battle of the Genpei War fought between the Kiso Minamoto of Shinano Province and the Shiba clan of Owari Province. Minamoto leader Minamoto Yoshinaka led his army into Owari and conquered Inazawa from the Shiba, killing their last daimyo Shiba Munechika and conquering Owari Province for the Minamoto.

History
In 1176, Minamoto Yoshinaka went on campaign against the Shiba clan of Owari Province as a part of his ambitious plan to conquer Japan for the Minamoto clan. His Kiso Minamoto branch of the family had seized Mino Province from the Toki in 1175, and the Minamoto went on to invade Owari in late 1176. In the autumn, the Shiba daimyo Shiba Terasu was slain in the Battle of Minokami against the Minamoto army of Yoshinaka and his milk brother Imai Kanehira, which proceeded to besiege the city of Inazawa. A Minamoto army of 522 troops, all veterans of the previous Battle of Minokami, faced Shiba Munechika and Endo Ujinari's 460 Shiba troops, who defended the hilltop castle.

Battle
The Minamoto army of Minamoto Yoshinaka and Imai Kanehira charged the Shiba garrison of the castle on the top of a hill, facing barely any defensive structures. The ensuing battle saw the inspiring presence of Yoshinaka allow for his troops, already outnumbering the Shiba army, to turn the tide of battle and strike down hundreds of Shiba soldiers. The bloody battle saw melee infantry from both sides collide in gruesome close-quarters combat, and the battle ended in a decisive Minamoto victory as Munechika and Ujinari were killed by the Kiso Minamoto forces. The result was the destruction of the Shiba clan and the fall of Owari to the Minamoto clan.